


Do You Recall

by TongueTiedRaven



Series: 12 Days of Prompts [11]
Category: Ao no Exorcist | Blue Exorcist
Genre: Apologies, Fluff, Getting Together, Kissing, M/M, camp fire
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:40:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28281036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TongueTiedRaven/pseuds/TongueTiedRaven
Summary: A year after the first training camp, Ryuuji decides it's time for a certain conversation.Apologizing is never easy.
Relationships: Okumura Rin/Suguro "Bon" Ryuuji
Series: 12 Days of Prompts [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2047784
Comments: 10
Kudos: 87





	Do You Recall

**Author's Note:**

> Today's prompt was 'Cozy Fire' and this was the third story I attempted to write, lol.

The second camping trip was entirely different from the first. For one thing, there was a lot less Amaimon even if the chuchi were still around and annoying.

They also knew who Rin was now.

The group was nervous all day. There was a weird tension in the air that made everyone uncomfortable and overly aware of every movement they made. It took Shura shouting at them to get a move on that finally broke some of the tension. Rin had laughed and everyone was able to breathe again.

Everyone but Ryuuji. 

It made him realize something, standing there and watching the halfling move about and cook dinner while Shiemi tried and failed to help. 

He'd never apologized. He'd never even acknowledged that he'd hurt Rin's feelings. He'd never even acknowledged that he'd hurt Rin.

The entire thing had been so messy and dramatic, more fitting a teenage drama flick than a bunch of Exorcists in training. They’d all failed to listen to each other and swung out with their words and fist in a violent collision that just did far more damage than it should have. They’d never acknowledged it. He’d muttered a few, half-delirious words about being friends and just moved on.

That sort of shit was why so many things had gone wrong with others. You couldn’t just skip over apologizes and hope your friends knew you were sorry and didn’t mean what you’d said.

Ryuuji didn’t like the idea of that sort of thing happening between him and Rin. 

He knew what he needed to do but darn if it wasn't hard to find the time to do it. He didn't want to do it in front of the others. Not because he was embarrassed, he was man enough to apologize when he needed to, but because he owed it to Rin to make this about him. Rin had clearly not been apologized to enough in his life. Ryuuji wasn't going to be another one of those people. He liked Rin too much to do that. Awkward, painful, or whatever. He could do it. He'd find his moment and he'd apologize. 

Ryuuji got his chance when Shura made them divvy out night watches. Rin volunteered for the middle watch and Ryuuji volunteered right along side him. He avoided Konekomaru's curious stare and left the fire for his tent. 

Middle watches sucked. Rin always took them because he could fall asleep at the drop of a hat. Ryuuji always took the last watch because it was only a few hours earlier than he'd usually get up anyway. 

Ryuuji fell asleep for maybe an hour - it always took forever for his mind to quiet enough for sleep- and was shaken awake by Shima. He got up, grabbed a bottle of water and tried to wake up. 

Rin was crouched in front of the fire with a grin and poking at it. The dying flames flickered a little but didn't get any bigger. Ryuuji trudged towards him and sat heavily on the log directly behind Rin. The halfling glanced back at him with an excited smile. 

“Hey!”

Ryuuji offered him a smile. "You gotta give it more fuel." 

Rin turned his eyes back on the fire. "What?"

Ryuuji got up and grabbed a few logs and some more of their starter. He motioned to Rin and the stick. 

"Prod it so the embers aren't all shoved together." He ordered as he set the wood in a teepee shape. Rin did as asked and a few minutes and near accidents later they had a fire going. 

Rin sat back on his haunches and watched it for a few seconds. His tail wagged cheerfully as it grew and Ryuuji's gut twisted. It wasn’t an unfamiliar feeling, that twist and want, but it was inconvenient. Tonight wasn’t about that. He’d put that off for months, he could continue to ignore the feelings. Well, not ignoring them but putting them off. 

"Hey, you got a minute?" He blurted before he could back out.

Rin popped up from the ground and shuffled towards the log. He shoved his hands in the pocket of his old hoodie as he moved.

"Sure?" Rin sat down gingerly, his entire form tense and curious. 

"I, uh, was thinkin' earlier and-" Rin's eyes were really wide and it was suddenly so hard to keep staring at him. He looked to the fire instead and let the steady flames calm his nerves. The flickering light of fire had always been mesmerizing. "And I, uh... I never apologized."

Rin's brow wrinkled. "Apologized? For what?" He leaned closer and Ryuuji’s stomach twisted a little tighter.

Sitting silently for a moment, he considered the fire and it’s dancing flames. He could feel it’s warmth from here and, unsurprisingly, it made him think of Rin. Rin and his bright eyes. Rin and his wild energy. Rin and his warm heart.

He turned his eyes back on Rin and swallowed. He had to be looking in his eyes for this. “Last year, the way everything went down. We-no,” That wasn’t right, was it? “ _ I  _ didn’t treat you right.”

Rin sat straighter, his tail rising in surprise. “Wha-no, you don’t have to apologize!”

“Doesn’t mean I don’t need to.” He fiddled with his water bottle and tried not to look like he was as nervous as he felt. He doubted Rin wouldn’t forgive him. He was pretty sure Rin had already forgiven him before they’d busted him out of the stupid cell. That was just the way Rin was.

He exhaled slowly. “I shouldn’t have cut you off like I did. I didn’t listen ‘cause I was upset and-”

Rin shook his head. His hair fell in his eyes at the force of the motion. “I lied and-”

Ryuuji reached over and placed his hands over Rin’s mouth without properly thinking it through. Blue eyes stared at him in surprise and Ryuuji’s mouth suddenly felt a little dry. Rin’s lips felt soft against his hand and he could feel each gentle breath puffing against his palm.

“Can you hold on ‘till I finish?”

Rin nodded and Ryuuji moved his hand. Rin’s fangs popped over his lip and Ryuuji had to lock eyes with him again so he didn’t get distracted. 

“I was upset and hurt ‘cause I thought we were friends and you kept that shit to yourself. I get it now, you probably were told not to tell, right?” Rin nodded but kept his mouth shut. His leg was shaking with nervous energy and Ryuuji wanted to reach over and still the nervous limb. “Not that it matters. I didn’t need to know so I didn’t. Doesn’t mean you weren’t my friend and didn’t give me a right to act like that.” He dropped his gaze back to his own lap and considered the water bottle once more. 

He didn’t really intend to keep talking but Rin was still quiet and it felt like more needed to be said.

“I… Honesty is important to me. You saw all the shit that went down at my temple. It felt like I’d trusted you with my stuff but you didn’t trust me. Doesn’t make that right or anything.” He shook his head, frustrated with himself and his inability to think of the words he needed to say. He was an aria, words were his thing. Why did they always seem to fail him with Rin? “Mainly I’m sorry it took me a damned year to apologize for it.”

Rin’s hand brushed against his. Heart suddenly pounding, he turned his head to see Rin’s eyes looking at him. His mouth was still shut but he looked desperate. 

“Oh! You can talk, sorry ‘bout that.”

“Hey, I did stuff wrong too.” Rin scooted closer to him, crouching on the log and not quite sitting. It reminded Ryuuji of a cat preparing to pounce. Somewhere between playful and dangerous and it was so very Rin. “I coulda-”

“Rin,” and he couldn’t keep the sigh out of his voice, “this wasn’t about what you shoulda done. I just wanted you to know that I was sorry.” 

Rin’s brow furrowed. “Why do you getta say it but I don’t?”

That was a fair point. He shrugged and dropped his gaze back to the water bottle. He’d wrung it to the point of almost being useless. Now it was just an awkward thing to hold. He set it on the ground and looked at the fire instead. The flames were strong now and the heat was pleasant. It’d last until the end of their watch pretty easily. Actually, thinking about that brought up another thought. Shura had made Shiemi put some sort of plant on the flames. Would they hurt Rin?

He turned to ask and found his breath catching because Rin had moved closer when he wasn’t looking. His nose almost knocked into the halfling’s and everything about him was a little blurry from the nearness.

Rin’s eyes were extremely wide and Ryuuji should probably put some space between them but his eyes were so blue and he didn’t want to move away. He wanted to move closer. The twisting in his chest was almost impossible to ignore and his heart was racing.

He didn’t intend on the watch going this way-

Watch. They were supposed to be  _ watching. _

Rin still hadn’t moved.

Ryuuji drew in a sharp breath and tried to tell himself to move or say something. Rin’s tail shot forward and wrapped around his upper arm, holding him in place. 

“I want to say a lotta things,” Rin stated while his tail tightened around Ryuuji’s arm. “But first, I’d really like to kiss ya.”

Ryuuji decided they’d said enough so he followed the pull of his gut and Rin’s tail and kissed him.

Thankfully nothing came around because they didn't end up doing a lot of watching. 

**Author's Note:**

> Title from Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer


End file.
